Batik & Ulos = birth of a baby?

A few days ago, I accompanied my mother to buy a batik cloth for my cousin. It is a tradition in my family for the elder family members to give a batik cloth as a baby gift (i.e. the uncles and aunts give it to their niece).

If you have ever lived in Indonesia, Batik shouldn't be something new for you. It is a cloth made by a special wax-resist dyeing technique, and especially associated with the Javanese culture.

Traditionally, Batik is used as a long skirt for women. Until today, it is still used by women in formal occasions (such as a wedding reception), where the batik is combined with a kebaya (a traditional blouse). Btw, I love kebaya!. Batik worn on formal occasions can cost up to millions, depending on the cloth, the design & the technique used to produce it.

Cheaper batik is made from lower quality cloth, which is usually thinner, and therefore can be used as a blanket. Another common use of Batik is as a traditional baby sling. When it is used as a baby sling, it is called a "kain gendong" (kain=cloth, gendong=carry). Photo of baby sling downloaded from http://www.oompiet.nl/english.htm

Whereas Batik is normally associated with something traditional, in the past year, Batik has been made into modern design clothing, making it a hot & trendy fashion. One brand that I love is Allure, unfortunately it is quite expensive.

It would be a shame for me to write about Batik, without mentioning Ulos, which is the traditional textile of Batak (my ethnicity).

Below is a picture of my Ulos. This was given to me by my grandmother when I was born, because I was the first-born. If you look carefully, you can see my name woven into it.

Sleeping in Indonesia

Last week I was given the task to buy bed linen as a wedding gift for my friend at the office. Since I have no idea about buying bed linen (ashamed (but content) to say, my mother still takes care of those things for me), I thought I would browse the internet to find some info.

Who would have thought that I actually was more confused after that? I went to Target's & Debenhams' website and a list of words came up : bed skirt, fitted sheet, flat sheet, comforter, duvet, quilt, pillow sham, throw, etc.

It took me quite a while, but after going to wikipedia & a couple of online dictionary sites, I think I understand what they mean now.

Luckily, here in Indonesia, sleeping is not such a complicated thing. A bed linen set typically consists of : pillow cases, bed sheets (usually flat sheets ;) ), and a guling cover.

What is a guling? It is a long tube-like pillow (a bolster) that is used by hugging it. It is a common & essential bed accessory for Indonesians, although if you stay at a hotel here, you won't find them on your bed.

Because of the tropical weather, blankets are not necessary. However, many mid to upper class people sleep with the air conditioner on, therefore duvets (in Indonesia the common term is bedcovers) are quite common. I myself don't have air conditioning in my room, but I use a batik cloth as a blanket (I'm going to write further about this in my next post).

Btw, it's almost 2 in the morning now. Time for me to go to bed!

Rambutan - the "hairy" fruit

I recently read in the newspaper that Barack Obama misses several Indonesian delicacies : Nasi goreng, Bakso and Rambutan. Well, he better hurry up because it is currently the harvest season for rambutan!

Rambutan is a fruit the size of a golf ball. The skin is "hairy", thus its name "rambutan" (rambut=hair). When it is ripe, the skin's colour turns from green to red. It then has a very sweet taste. However, there is a kind of rambutan that is known for its sweet taste eventhough it is still yellowish : Rambutan Rapia.

Luckily, I have a Rambutan Rapia tree in my backyard and since it is rambutan season, today we were plucking away!

Left : Hanging on the trees; Right : Hitting the branches with a bamboo stick so that the fruit falls down

Rambutan rapia has thicker hair compared to other types of rambutan

To eat the fruit, you must open the skin. Opening the skin can be done just by using your hands

JiFFEST 2008

I have been soooo busssyyyy the last couple of weeks, I haven't had the time to update my blog while in fact, I already have a couple of topics in mind I want to write about. Hopefully I'll have some free time next week.

In the mean time, because of my tight schedule, there is 1 event in Jakarta that I will probably not be able to go to : The 10th Jakarta International Film Festival

This year it will be held from December 5th - 9th, 2008.
To see the films that will be shown, please go to their website : http://2008.jiffest.org/

For those of you who are going: Have fun!

Wish I could go to :(

Lumpur Lapindo (Lapindo Mud)

After being in Surabaya on business trip for the "I-don't-know-how-many"-th time, I decided to stop by the Lapindo Mud area on my way back to the airport. This is a newly famous "tourist object" in the subdistrict of Porong, Sidoarjo (just a few kilometres outside of Surabaya) which is a mud volcano that has been overflowing since mid-2006 until today (2 years of non-stop mud flow!!).

You can see from the pictures below (courtesy of CRISP - National University of Singapore) that the mud has now covered a huge area of what used to be villages.

2005

October 2008

The cause of this tragedy is still uncertain, but a recent Geologists' conference in Cape Town voted in favor of the view that the mudflow was induced by PT Lapindo Brantas' drilling in the area. The Indonesian government has concluded that PT Lapindo Brantas (which is owned by Bakrie Group) must compensate hundreds of people affected by the mud (these people have lost their homes & occupations). However until now, the company still hasn't paid the full compensation fee.

When arriving near the site, you can smell a bad odour apparently coming from the gases that accompany the mudflow. Dams and barriers have been build to prevent the mud from overflowing an even larger area.

To see the mud area, you must go on top of the dams. The local people have made steps from bamboo in order to get to the top. The "entrance fee" is Rp. 3000. If you are not content at looking from a distance, you can also get an ojek (motorcycle transport) that will take you nearer to the source. But of course, they will charge you more.

Since I had little time & also I had heard of news that there had been sudden eruptions that killed a few people, I was satified with the view from the top. Unluckily, I realized that my cell phone's battery was dead so I couldn't take any photographs. The following photos are from a few blogs I found :

(left: The dam/barrier, source : Ajnatz's blog; right : Steps made of bamboo, source : Denmas Rul's blog)

Lapindo mud (source: Denmas Rul's blog)

Heroes Season 3 - Shadows by Nidji

I am a bit ashamed to admit this, but I'm not that fond of Indonesian songs. Everytime I listen to the radio & an Indonesian song is coming up, I immediately change the radio station. However, this does not mean that I don't have any favorite Indonesian songs, but there are only a handful of Indonesian artists that I like. One of these artists is an Indonesian band called : Nidji

It is a relatively new band, but every time they release a new single, it becomes a #1 hit.

If you have STAR World Asia on your cable subscription, nowadays you can hear them on the Heroes season 3 trailer. The background song is by Nidji, called "Shadows". This is the second time that their song has been used by STAR World as the background for a Heroes ad. Previously, their song "Heaven" was used.

Nidji Rocks!

Cultural Centres in Jakarta

Last week, I went to see a piano recital by Patrick Zygmanowski which was held at the Erasmus huis in Jakarta. Besides his brilliant performance, I enjoyed it very much just because I haven't gone to any classical music concerts since living in Indonesia.

The fact is there are many performances & events in Jakarta (although of course not as many as in Europe). Here are a few websites I use to search for info on upcoming programmes :

- Taman Ismail Marzuki
http://tamanismailmarzuki.com

- Gedung Kesenian Jakarta
http://gedungkesenianjakarta.co.id/

- Bentara Budaya Jakarta
http://www.bentarabudaya.com/
- Erasmus Huis
http://www.mfa.nl/erasmushuis

- Goethe-Institut
http://www.goethe.de/ins/id/jak

- Instituto Italiano di Cultura
http://www.iicjakarta.esteri.it/IIC_Jakarta

- The Japan Foundation
http://www.jpf.or.id

- Institut Francais Indonesia
http://institutfrancais-indonesia.com/

Stop Useless Consumption

Translation :

Do : If you have to go to work, this is a useful tip. Make a fake doctor’s note and take sick leave for 1-2 days.
Don’t : Don’t write down a serious illness, otherwise you might actually end up with it!

The above picture is part of an ad by Metro department store announcing its big sale. It ran in Kompas (one of Indonesia’s top national newspapers) on October 16th.

I was astonished when first reading it : The ad actually encouraged people to lie about being sick so that they can go shopping instead?!

The whole ad was a 5 half-page full color ad with the tagline : "Do what you have to do! Prepare and execute your best strategy for Metro’s Big Sale."

Each ad contained tips on how to “prepare & execute” the strategy. Some tips were actually decent such as “Memorize your closet. Survey the store first so that you’ll already know where to go and what to get”.........but then.......you have tips such as in the above picture which encourages Indonesians to prioritize shopping above all! I wonder whether the people who go actually need half of the things they buy....

Of course purchasing and consuming things in excess of what you need has been done since ages ago, however considering Indonesia’s situation (many low educated consumers, many people are not even getting the basic needs for living) and the age we live in (natural resources are depleting fast, global warming is on the toll), we should be more critical to our consumption patterns.

Although recycling has now become a major movement, I am more in favor of the view that the best way is to prevent the need of recycling in the first place. In other words : Reduce consumption, Consume wisely.

I am not going to get into this seriously since my blog is intended for leisure reading, but if you are interested to know more about consumerism issues, please have a look at these links :
- Anup Shah, Consumption and Consumerism, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Wednesday, September 03, 2008
- Why overcoming consumerism?

I thought I would try to tackle this issue by starting with myself. This is my pledge :

1. I recently just bought a new mobile phone & I will not buy a new one for the next 4 years.

2. I know I currently have all the shoes I need for every kind of situation, therefore I will not buy any shoes for another 6 months.

3. I also have all the blazers I need : I will not buy a blazer for another 6 months.

4. I’m going to wake-up earlier so that I don’t need to take a cab to work just because I’m running late.

5. When buying small things, I will just put it in my bag. No need for a plastic bag.

Now that I’m willing to consume less, are you? If you are & you have a blog, please post your list up & we can exchange links. Maybe your list will inspire new ideas for me to add to mine!

Also, for anyone of you who has a facebook account, please join the Stop Useless Consumption Cause & invite your friends to join also. On this application is a link to the video “The Story of Stuff”. Although I’m not quite sure whether all the facts & figures presented are correct, but it is inspiring to watch.

Let’s make people aware of this issue! :)

Kite Museum (Museum Layang-layang Indonesia)

Address : Jl. H. Kamang 38, Pondok Labu, Jakarta Selatan
Telephone : +62 21 765 8075

This museum features all kinds of kites. Kites were first popularized nearly 3000 years ago in China. However, the question of when the first kite was invented, has not been answered yet. A drawing on the cave walls of Muna in Sulawesi has stirred up the discussion that kites may have been flown long before that.

With an entrance fee of Rp.10.000,- (which is a bit higher than the normal entrance fee for museums in Jakarta), you will be assigned a guide who explains the various kites in the museum. Also included in the fee is a lesson on kite making & watching a short film on kite flying.

The museum also provides workshops for making batik & ceramics.

Traditionally, kites were made out of leaves

Traditional Kite from Bali

Traditional Kites from Sumatera

"Paired Kites" from Kalimantan (left is female, right is male)

Creation Kites (Modern)

Devices to help manoeuvre the creation kites

Look at how small these kites are! Smaller than the mobilephone chain

Music & Film Festivals this October

Finally, after a very hectic period at the office, I can have a social life again!
There are many things to do in Jakarta, but there are 2 special events this October that I am curious to check out :

1. Soulnation Festival

Soulnation presents performances by Indonesian and international artists in the R & B, Hip hop, Rap and Soul scene.

It will be held on 17-18 October 2008 and is the festival's first year. It is organized by the same people of the Java Jazz festival.

The main artists scheduled to perform are Akon & Ashanti ... hmm.....intrigued?

Check out its website for more info : http://www.soulnationfestival.com/

The website states that besides performances, there will also be fun attractions & activities such as fire dancers, body painting, temporary tattoo and fortune telling!

2. Europe On Screen

Europe On Screen is, as its name suggests, a film festival featuring European films. This festival has been held annually since 2003.

This year it will take place in nine cities across Indonesia. In Jakarta, the event will be held from 24-31 October 2008.

For detailed information on the films that will be shown this year, please go to the website : http://www.delidn.ec.europa.eu/film/

Have you received your THR yet?

With Ramadhan nearing the end, there is 1 word that is on every Indonesian's mind: THR.

THR is an abbreviation of "Tunjangan Hari Raya" which essentially refers to a 1-month salary bonus given around 1-2 weeks near the end of Ramadhan. It is mandatory for the companies to pay this bonus to their employees. Maybe abroad, it is similar to Christmas bonus.

The bonus is usually used to buy stuff for Idul Fitri (Moslem holiday that marks the end of Ramadhan), usually new clothes to be worn on the occasion. But nowadays, it has come to the point that many people use their THR to buy new expensive stuff, such as mobile phones, so that they can show them off to their relatives back in their home town. And then after the holidays, they would sell them back because of course, it was too expensive for them to begin with! A very mislead consumptive behaviour that actually contradicts the spirit of Idul Fitri.

Anyways, let me not go into that because otherwise this post is going to be very serious. With all my projects finished and only a few presentations to go before the holiday, I only want to relax and go use my THR. Happy shopping everyone!

Censored!

I've just finished watching "Chasing Liberty" on one of the local Indonesian channels. I've already seen it before but being the romantic comedy fan that I am, although it isn't one of my favorites, I was looking forward to watching the movie again (It is one of those "pleasant, I don't want to think" kind of movie. The main actor, Matthew Goode, is undeniably cute (!) but the movie lacks a strong script & also, in my opinion, Matthew Goode has no chemistry with Mandy Moore, the main actress).

However.....thanks to Indonesia's censorship, this mediocre movie became unbearable to watch. They cut out all the kissing scenes, which is in my opinion the whole point of watching a romantic movie!

Well, I shouldn't have been surprised since I know about the TV censorship in Indonesia. TVs are not allowed to show scenes that are related to sex (which includes kissing scenes).

As I got online, I googled about "indonesian tv censor" and found an amusing post by Marek Bialoglowy about Indonesian TV. Notice that it was written in 2006, but I think not a lot has changed.

I googled further, and found an interview excerpt (please skip to the interview with Ratna Mahadi at the bottom half of the page) that mentions some of the more specific censorship rules (It also tries to explain Indonesia's taste for the typical "poor good girl meets rich before-a-brat-but-after-meeting-poor-good-girl,-he-comes-to-his-senses boy" plot (phew...that's a long phrase) : http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/s1258852.htm

All in all though, I think censorship in Indonesia is still tolerable. At least it is not like in Pakistan!

Ramadhan - Fasting month

It is still damn busy at the office although the pace is slowing down a bit because tomorrow is already the first day of Ramadhan, the moslem's fasting month. For 1 month, we will be fasting every day from dawn (around 04:30) until sunset (around 18:00). From 18:00 until 04:30, we are allowed to eat (I used to have friends abroad who thought that we absolutely don't eat the whole month! :P).

During the Ramadhan, of course we cannot do any product testing involving food/beverages because hey...in a country where the majority of the population is moslem, the odds of finding respondents who are not currently fasting to do the product test is quite slim.

But not only food/beverages, testing personal care products at respondents' homes are usually also postponed until after the Ramadhan. This is because people's habits change during the Ramadhan. For example, you are used to brushing your teeth after each meal. Thus before Ramadhan, you brush your teeth 3 times a day but during Ramadhan, you brush only twice. Conducting research during this period may not capture the normal consumption patterns.

So don't be surprised to see a change of pace in Indonesia during the Ramadhan. These are just a few you should be aware of :

- Schools / Offices may have changed their working hours
For example at my office, our working hours are usually from 09:00 - 17:30, however during the Ramadhan, it is from 08:00 - 16:30. This is to allow the employees some time so that they may be able to break the fast at home.

- Window restaurants are covered
Don't be alarmed to see your favorite restaurant's windows covered. The restaurant is not close, the windows are just covered so that you can't see the people eating inside. This is usually done by restaurants near the street. It is a form of respect to those who are fasting (we don't get to see the people who are eating, so we're not tempted to eat also).

- Clubs / bars are closed
Some clubs / bars may be closed or they shorten their opening hours. This is so that their employees have more time to join evening prayer.

- Restaurants are full in the evening
Where normally you are too busy to meet with friends/family, during the Ramadhan, many people make extra effort to meet & break the fast together. Therefore if you have any dinner plans, it is better to make an appointment first or otherwise eat later, around 20:00.

- Mosques are filled with people in the evening
During the Ramadhan, there are additional evening prayers. Avoid going by mosques around 21:00 because that is when the prayers are finished & the crowd goes home.

- Each tv channel has some kind of special tv show around 03:00 - 04:00
Before we start fasting, we eat first (of course, otherwise where would you get the energy to do all your activities during the day?!). This "morning breakfast" is called sahur. If you are living alone & you need to do sahur, don't worry that you will fall asleep because there are interesting & funny tv shows at this time. The shows usually also have quizzes where people who call-in can win a prize.

If you think it is weird that we change so many things just because we are going to fast for a whole month, well all those changes are made because this month is a big deal to the moslem community. Essentially, the Ramadhan is not just about "not eating", it is about restraining your desires of the physical world and remembering the afterlife. We are encouraged to avoid bad habits (such as loosing your temper) and to do more good deeds (pray to God, help other people in need). It is a month where we reflect upon ourselves and hopefully after the Ramadhan ends, we will still continue the good habits that we have gained during the Ramadhan.

So, for those who will be fasting, I want to wish you all :
Selamat menunaikan Ibadah Puasa!

17-08-45

Today, August 17th, is a public holiday in celebration of Indonesia’s Independence Day. This year it is Indonesia’s 63rd year of Independence.

When you come to Indonesia during this time, you will find all over the country, houses and streets decorated with red and white flags & banners. Games & competitions are also usually held by schools, offices and neighbourhoods as part of the celebration. While for students who attend public school & for civil servants, the day usually starts off with a flag ceremony (upcara bendera) at their respective school/workplace.

Today I spent the afternoon watching the games that were held by my neigbourhood. Although the types of games/competitions held are only restricted by one’s imagination, these are a few of the typical games that you may encounter :

- Bike decorating (Lomba hias sepeda)

- Biting a spoon with marble on it. The fastest one crossing the finish line without dropping the marble is the winner. (Lomba kelereng)

- Kerupuk (deep-fried crackers) eating competition (Lomba makan kerupuk)

- Climbing an oiled pole that has various goods hanging on top (Lomba panjat pinang) Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of this. It wasn’t held in my neighbourhood this time.

Selamat 17 Agustus everybody! Merdeka!

Indonesians & Chit-chat

I had just read Bram's post on an article titled "Small Talk ala Indonesia" and although I don't agree 100% with it (I don't think that sex is a topic that Indonesians talk freely about; being married (or in my case, not yet married), having kids are on the other hand common topics), I must admit that it does give a quite representative picture of small talks that we must tolerate here in Indonesia. Just hours later, I found myself in a similar bothersome situation as mentioned in the article.

Setting : 2 o' clock in the afternoon. I'm feeling sick, so I ask my boss for permission to leave work early. I go to the taxi stand at the back of my office building.

Driver : Good afternoon
Me : Good afternoon. To ...... (I say the name of my street)
Driver : What kind of office is there?
Me : (A bit surprised that he asks this question, but then again, it is still working hours, so I quickly think nothing of it) No office. It's my house. I don't feel well.
Driver : Why don't you feel well? Maybe you work too hard.
Me : Maybe.
Driver : Yeah...probably you often don't eat on time.
Me : (Getting annoyed) Don't know.
Driver : Do you usually work late? Maybe you have caught "masuk angin"?
Me : (Terribly annoyed) Hmm.
Driver : This street...is it near the Bajaj workshop?
Me : Yes
Driver : I have a friend over there. I was meaning to stop by.
Me (Replying) : Oh.
Me (Thinking) : I'm only answering with 1 syllable words. Can't you take a hint, I don't feel like talking?!

We are now approaching Sudirman street. The driver turns and takes the slow lane, while actually it would be better if he had taken the fast lane.

Driver : Yesterday I was taking a passenger, a girl, to that area. Had a nice long talk but I was kind of suspicious about her.
Me : (in an attempt to stop him from talking) So what, it's her life. Don't think much about it. Anyways, why did you take the slow lane? Is there traffic jam on the fast lane at this hour? It doesn't seem so. It would've been better to take the fast lane, or not?

Driver gruntly replies something and then doesn't talk the whole trip home. Mission accomplished.

Sorry Mr. Taxi Driver, that I had to bite your head off, but hey...I already told you that I didn't feel well. Did you expect me to endure having small talk with you?!

Traditional Indonesian Bathroom

I recently got a query from my colleague overseas who is drafting up a questionnaire for a multi-country study on bathing habits. Because of this, I was aware that our bathing habits may be quite unique.

First of all, it is common to shower at least two times a day : in the morning (before you start your activities) & in the evening (after you get home). Many of my friends who study abroad, can't get rid of this habit. That is why they still shower twice a day even though it is winter. They often think I'm nuts when I don't shower that day because I think the weather is too cold. But of course now, I always shower twice a day.....afterall......it is hot here in Indonesia!

Second, the bathroom itself is a bit different. It is now common to have a bathtub or shower in the bathroom, especially for the higher social class. But the majority of Indonesians still use a water container & bucket to bathe. You use the bucket to get the water from the water container & pour it on yourself (you don't get into the water container, don't think that it is used like a bathtub!)

Sit-down toilets are more common than showers/bathtubs, but still squat toilets are widely used. And then of course, you have the issue of us not using toilet paper. Yes, we use water, not toilet paper. (what is weird for you, is common for us..... And what is common for you, is weird for us :P)

So maybe now you are wondering how a traditional Indonesian bathroom looks like? Well I got this picture off the Internet (sorry, I forgot to write down the url).

Be rest assured though, that the majority of well-established malls & hotels have the standard toilets/ bathrooms like in the Western countries :)

The dirty side of Jakarta's Coastline

A few pics I got from my brother's files :

As with every other major city in the world, Jakarta is fighting an every day battle against garbage.

However, we get a "helping hand" from "pemulung", garbage scavengers who search through the garbage, looking for anything that they can re-sell in order to get money.

Small things I love about Indonesia

*Sigh*....another week has passed. It is still very hectic at the office & it is going to get worse, with 3 projects kicking-off this coming week & 2 CLT projects over the next 2 weekends :(

But among the nerve-recking situations at the office, these 2 small things help me deal with the stress....*I love Indonesia :) *

- There's a maid in the house
It is very comforting to come home after a busy day and find that everything in your house is spick & span because you have the maid doing your housework! Your laundry is done, there's food on the table & your bed is made up. All you need to do is relax....

It is a common thing for middle-class Indonesians to have a maid. The more wealthy households even have their own driver, nanny for the kids, gardener & security guards. A survey done by my office showed that 27% of people in emerging markets pay someone else to clean their house, while only 12% do so in developed markets.

Quoting my Executive director for Consumer Insights, Mike Sherman :

In the same way that money cannot buy happiness, affluence does not necessarily mean access to life's luxuries.

Although Indonesia needs to catch up economically, but cheap labour has its benefits!
- In a country where you have to sweep & mop the house everyday because of the dust, having a maid is a tremendous life luxury! -

- Pampering yourself at the salon is cheap
This is yet another consequence of the cheap labour cost in Indonesia. Hair salons, besides providing cutting & styling services, usually also provide various treatments such as hair conditioning treatments, manicure, pedicure, foot massage etc.....at a cheap price!

Just for an example, last weekend I went to the salon to get a hair conditioning treatment (we call it having a "cream bath", where they also massage your shoulders & back while waiting for the hair cream to settle in), manicure and pedicure for only Rp. 120.000 which is about 12 USD!

Of course you have the high-end salons that cost just as expensive as abroad, but why go there when you can get something similar at a far lower price....and just a small note: tipping the hair dresser is a "not must, but expected" thing to do.

Unilever Brands in Indonesia

I haven’t written in 2 weeks now because it has been very hectic at the office. I work at a market research company. It is a peak season for us, since the Ramadhan (moslem fasting month) is approaching & we can’t conduct product testing because of this. Many clients are pushing their projects to be done now so that it can be finished before Ramadhan.

One of our major clients is Unilever, which is a multinational corporation. As in other countries, Unilever has many brands, but particularly in Indonesia, most of its brands are in the top 3 players of its category. .... their doing pretty good, huh?......

You can even map out most of your daily activities using Unilever brands only. This is how it would look like :

Morning

It’s a beautiful morning. Wake up early to do your laundry with Rinso laundry detergent and adding a little Molto softener. After that, take a bath with Lux soap, not forgetting to wash your hair with Sunsilk shampoo and brush your teeth with Pepsodent toothpaste & toothbrush. After showering, it’s time to dress up. But first, put on some Pond's moisturizer, Citra hand & body lotion and Rexona deodorant. Last, style your hair with Clear styling gel. Now you’re ready to get some breakfast!

A nice cup of Sariwangi tea & a slice of bread buttered with Blue Band margarine is all you need to start the day.

Lunch

After ordering rice with some meat & veggies, pour some Bango soya sauce to add flavour to your dish. For dessert, Walls ice cream is a nice way to end your lunch break.

Afternoon

On your way home, have some Taro chips to pass the time in traffic jam. Once at home, take a shower (it is common for Indonesians to shower twice a day) with Lifebuoy soap and Dove shampoo. As in the morning, after showering, apply Vaseline hand & body lotion and spray some Axe deodorant.

Dinner

Have a light dinner with Royco cream soup. When finished, wash the dishes with Sunlight dishwash.

Night

Before going to bed, brush your teeth with Close-Up toothpaste. Maybe you have some light laundry to do? Use Surf laundry detergent. Last, don’t forget to lite Domestos Nomos mosquito coil in your room. You don’t want your sleep to be disturbed just because of itching mosquito bites!